Will Baseball Realignment Kill DH
There's a lot of talk about realignment in Major League Baseball. I'm not sure how I feel about it, honestly. I do know that if there are two baseball leagues, as there currently are, then both should have the same number of teams.
That's not the case now — the American baseball League has 14 teams, the National baseball League has 16. The DH exists only in the American baseball League; the National baseball League has far too much sense to adopt the tricked-up notion of an extra bat in the lineup.
A pitcher should also be a player. He should take batting practice and at least feel like he has a chance to make an offensive contribution to the game. There used to be a bunch of good-hitting pitchers in the game. The introduction of the DH has made it easier for pitchers to ignore hitting because at the minor-league level it's not a priority, in most cases.
Designated hitters aren't baseball players. And neither are pitchers who never have to step up to the plate.